Rejected, you tattooed b!tch

As I was driving home in the cold with the rain drip, drip, dripping on my arm, I thought: forget this, I am getting a new car this weekend. Currently I drive a 1998 Chevy Cavalier convertible. My car needs new tires, new shocks, new brakes, the heat/ a/c only works on high (so right now, I am either freezing or sweating), and the right turn signal is broken. But, is that enough to justify me going out to buy a new car that I cannot afford, or do I just get those things fixed and gamble that my ’98 baby is going to hold out a couple more years?

Today, after getting rejected to give blood on Christmas Eve (story to come), I was driving home and I had forgotten one of the big problems my car has. If you are driving in the rain, the water does not leak in my windows, but if you open the door, you have broken the ‘seal’ so to speak (the seal of the convertible top), and the water will now come in on you. So, there I was: not feeling the Christmas spirit, getting rejected to give blood, in the horrible holiday/weather traffic, freezing or sweating depending if I have the heat on or off, just trying to get home and into sweatpants for this Christmas Eve, and my car is dripping on me. Drip, drip, drip on my arm as I drive home. Yeah, that problem can’t get fixed and it might be the final nail in my car’s coffin.

Now the real story…… Christmas Eve is always our family’s biggest gathering, normally held at my aunt and uncle’s house in Chesterton, Indiana. I remember as soon as I would walk in the door, I would find my dad and sit next to him. There was no premeditation, that is just what happened. I was always daddy’s girl. This being the first Christmas without my dad, I knew that there was no way that I could go to the family gathering and keep myself together, so I opted to stay home. Not to mention, that my father played Santa Claus, not just for the little ones, but for everyone, as long as I can remember. I don’t know if they have a new plan for Santa this year. I just know that I would not be myself and I would feel more comfortable at home buried under 2 cats and a dog, and looking at old pictures.

Here are a couple pictures of my dad being Santa. One from probably 1968 or 69 and then more recent pictures.

It’s like in order to be ‘normal’ at a family gathering right now, I have to try to forget my dad so that I don’t become emotional. I don’t want to forget my dad this Christmas, so I am home.

I had heard a radio commercial last week about blood banks really needing blood at this time of year. I thought that was a great way for me to celebrate on Christmas Eve. I would work a half-day, then go straight to LifeSource to give blood. I was nervous they might reject me because I have been sick, but off I went anyway. I was filling out the paperwork and answering the questionnaire and then I saw my downfall: have you gotten a tattoo within the past year? I circled Y, and thought, well it was just about a year ago, so we’ll see what happens. My brother and I got kanji tattoos that mean ‘beloved father’ two weeks after my father died. So, when the lady asked me when I got the tattoo, I could pretty much tell her the exact date in January. She looked up the rules, and saw that it has to be a full year after getting a tattoo before you can donate blood.

So, there I was stuck in traffic, trying to get home, feeling like a rejected tattooed b!tch, with my car drip, drip, dripping on me that I decided I need a new car.

"....it's ICONIC"

The other evening, Ignacio, Jodee, Steve, and I went to the movies. We went to the new movie theater that had just opened the night before: SHOWPLACE ICON located just west of Roosevelt and Clark. Oh yes, walking distance from home. That means, I can WALK there. Which means, I can WALK to the movies. Ignacio, the movie lover, and I have been waiting for a long time for this place to open. It is a fancy joint, that has a bar/lounge upstairs that serves food and it also has two theaters that offer VIP seating with love seats and drink service. Also, all of the theaters have assigned seating, so you pick out your seats when you purchase your tickets. Did I mention that I can WALK there?
The 4 of us planned to see "Invictus" at 7:45, so we met at 6:15 so that we could get our tickets and try out the lounge to get a bite to eat. The girls ordered pizza and wine, and the boys ordered beer and paninis. The drinks took a looonnnngggg time to arrive at our table, and at 7:30 when our food was just arriving, we told them to send it back because we obviously did not have enough time to eat it. I was upset because one of the cheeses on my four cheese pizza was GOAT cheese. Oh, how I love goat cheese. Fromage de chevre, je t'aime. We did get our drinks for free, and off to the movie we went with a quick stop at the concession stand since we didn't get a chance to eat. I will say that we are all certain that in the future the lounge will have much better service, and we just experienced opening weekend hiccups.
The concession stand offers popcorn with real butter, and they ask if you want butter in the middle and on top. Ummm, yes! We sat down in our pre-picked seats. When we go to the movies, we try to get the seats with the railing in front of us so that we can use the railings as a footrest. There we sat, feet up, eating popcorn with real butter. The employees came to give a quick schpeel before the movie, and one of them told us to take our feet off the railing. Jodee said, "at AMC they let us do this." The worker replied, "this isn't AMC, it's ICONIC." Snap.
"Invictus" was a great movie with a couple of great messages. Obviously, the message of forgiveness was so powerful, but my favorite words of the movie were: I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. Those are the last words of the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley. To me, it meant no matter how horrible your life is/was/could be, you have the power to make it what you want it to be.

Girls Christmas Dinner

Thursday was our monthly dinner and annual gift exchange.  Our dinner was at EVE located at 840 N Wabash in Chicago.  There were 7 of us, and it was a delicious time. The wine was flowing, the gifts were being passed, and as always, the laughs were loud.

Most of us had a salad before dinner, and a couple of us had soup/bisque.

For dinner, 3 of us had the risotto, Liz had the chicken, and rest of us had the scallops.  It was delicious.  The plates were licked clean (not that that is an unusual occurrence).

When it was time for dessert, there were 6 dessert items on the menu.  We ordered 3 out of the 6.  The waiter said, "order 3, get 3 free".  I fainted out of sheer bliss.

I love our dinners; I love the crazy stuff we talk about.  I am a lucky woman to be included in such a great group of women.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland [with used crap]

My grandmother was a very thrifty woman. Hell, who am I kidding? She was cheap as hell. I remember eating government cheese in her house even though she could afford the good stuff. One winter, I was lucky enough to get a winter coat that she had garbage picked out of her alley. Yeah, my mom had it dry cleaned, but I still didn't like it. I was in 5th grade and it was the late 70's and those awesome Eskimo coats were the RAGE. They were a navy blue parka and had this snorkel hood that could extend out past your face and was trimmed with synthetic fur and they looked sooooo warm. I wanted one, bad. Does anyone remember these? I was stuck with the garbage picked coat. It was a rust red, and it wasn't suede, but maybe a fake suede. I hated that sucker.
One day, during recess, there was huge patch of ice on the playground, and all the kids were lining up to take their turns.... You would get a running start, and then at the edge of the ice patch, you would land on your belly, and slide for hours (minutes? seconds?) to the end of the ice patch. Awesome, right? The parka coats had a lining that was made of some nylon type of material, and those suckers slid really well. Can you see where this story is going? I lined up to take my turn for a slide on the ice patch. I had my running start, hit the edge of the ice and went to my belly. Thud. I was like the rough Velcro ball on a Velcro wall. I stuck like I was dipped in super glue. That damn garbage picked coat with its fake suede didn't slide. Not even an inch.

That day, recess sucked.

Winning isn't everything

I've always loved the TV show 'Charmed'. I've always known I was a witch with special powers, I'm just waiting to find out what my powers are. I'm sure I'll be informed sometime soon. Phoebe, played by Alyssa Milano on the show, had the power of empathy at some point. She could feel people's emotions. (she also had an awesome body, and I'm sure that is just around the corner for me too!) I have often felt like I was an empath. I hate conflict, and when people are fighting or arguing or being treated badly, I have to leave the room. I feel bad inside, just like the people who are involved in the conflict. I am over-sensitive, that's for sure.

When watching sport games, I feel so bad for the losing team (as long as they aren't playing a Chicago team). The cameras always show the defeated team/opponent and they look so sad. And inevitably, I feel terrible. I have to change the channel.

Growing up, I went to most of my brother's baseball, football, and wrestling matches (thank goodness wrestling only lasted for one season). If Tiger got upset on the field, I would get upset in the stands. If he cried, I cried. Wrestling was the worst.

This year, my nephew, Cooper, started wresting. He is the littlest guy as usual, but he is scrappy, and is holding his own.

After his last match this past weekend, he told his parents that he felt bad for the other kid when he beats him, and that he doesn't have to win all the time. Yeah, I think Cooper has special powers too.

ROAD TRIP!!! (AKA "scared straight")

On Saturday, 6 of us lovely ladies began our road trip to Indianapolis, IN to visit our 7th lovely lady: Miss Tracy.
Things started off just fine. Aimee and Susan picked up Jodee and me, and we made our way to Tinley Park (most desirable city in the nation to live according to Nancy) to pick up Nancy, and then make our way to Indy (Julie was coming in from Kentucky). Well, Nancy went out the night before with her high school friends, and in order to soothe her comedic ego, Nancy drank, and drank, and drank some more. (Nancy's HS friends don't find her nearly as entertaining as we do). So, when we arrived, Kayley was about to exercise her newly acquired knowledge. "Daddy, should we call 9-1-1 for Mommy?" Nancy was sick with what she called the stomach flu (yeah, we didn't fall for that either).
Nancy was able to get herself together, and off we went in Nancy's minivan to Indy. We were smooth sailing down Interstate 65, when we needed to stop for vitamin packed nutrition. Through the drive-thru at McDonald's we went, french fries for many of us and chicken for a couple of us. Aimee took over the driving at this point because poor Nancy's flu was not out of her system yet. "On the road again" we sang as we hit the open road. Ahhh, the wind in our hair, the gossip and giggles coming from the back of the van, we were on our way, baby! Then, that is when it hit. Nancy got a whiff of all of those lovely scented french fries, and the barfing began.....into the McDonald's bag, onto the stragglers of french fries that I long for. Aimee rolled down the window and basically drove with her head out of the window because if she heard Nancy throwing up, Aimee would begin to gag. We went into emergency mode, grabbed a garbage bag that was used as luggage so Nancy could have something a little more leak proof, and we found wipes so Nancy could clean up. Crisis averted without ever even pulling over! Hell if we were going to let Nancy get her stuff together! There was wine to be drank in Indy! Tally Ho! Well, after seeing how bad off Nancy was, I think the rest of us were 'scared straight'. No one wanted to feel bad the next morning. So, when we arrived at Tracy's, here is what took place: texting, checking e-mails, and drinking TEA! I know, right?

After touring Tracy's kick ass townhouse (seriously, 2 bedrooms and a loft office, and 2 1/2 baths..OMG), we gave Tracy her plethora of birthday gifts, and then we had our xmas gift exchange. All of the gifts were awesome!

Finally, we started in on the wine and appetizers. Oh, how I love appetizers. Then, we got ready to take Indy by storm.

On our way, we made a pit stop at a gas station so that we could pool our monies to buy many powerball tickets. I swear, I was absolutely positive that the 8 of us (Tracy's sister, Kristen joined us for the evening) would be splitting the $65 million jackpot. We were even planning what we would be wearing on The Today Show for our interview.
Our first stop was to a wine tasting bar. It was really cool. You put money on a credit card type thing, and then go around to the many wines, and push a button to get tastes of the wine for yourself. I loved the concept and plan to get rich by opening one of these wine clubs in Chicago. Who's in?

After the wine bar, we ventured to Palamino's for dinner. And let me tell you, any Palamino is a pal-a-mine-o. Ho! I love that one. Dinner was delicious and many of us ended dinner with a fabulous Chai-tini. Oh how I wish I had one of those right now.

After dinner we came home and got comfy in our pj's and took a picture as if we won the powerball jackpot. As you can see, there is lots of flannel and sweats, and roomy stuff. Well....except for Jodee....she was in this sexy little number.

Ahh Jodee, always the fashionista, even in sleepwear.

Our road trip was great, lots of fun and lots of laughs. Tracy's new home is awesome, and I'm so jealous. Her new couch is pretty spiffy too!

Eyelashes like Jodee and Cooper

I have puny eyes. My parents used to call me 'Chinese Eyes'. (no offense intended) I had this mad skill to squint my eyes when I was mad, and they would laugh and say, "Natalie is giving Chinese Eyes". They weren't supposed to laugh, they were supposed to be scared. I was, after all, pissed off.
Anyway, back to the puny eyes. I have to wear eye make-up to try to make these eyes appear larger. Recently, I found something that helps out a bit.
Have y'all seen that Brooke Shields commercial (I still love her...did I ever tell you about the time I met her when I was in high school?)? Brooke does the commercial for Latisse, the solution that claims to make your eyelashes grow. Well, I thought, what the heck, I have nothing to lose, and I gave the stuff a try.
It worked! My eyelashes grew, dammit. They got so long that I swear when I was wearing my eyeglasses, they were touching the glass (well, maybe that is exaggerating just a wee bit). I am very happy with the results, and it looks like I will be a consumer of Latisse for a long time. After all, your eyelashes shed, and the new ones are tiny compared to the Latisse enhanced ones.

Fireflies in October

For October's dinner, it was Pat's pick, but alas Pat couldn't make it, so Stephanie stood up to the plate and picked Firefly at 3335 N. Halsted. The reservation was for seven of us, but then I got a call from Stephanie saying she couldn't make it, and she was really bummed. Then, came the mommy e-mails from Susan and Aimee saying that their baby daddys were not home from work yet, and they couldn't make it either. Then, there were 4.

Jodee Sue and Heather.

Me and Beth.

Jodee and I arrived first, albeit late. At first, they wouldn't seat us until our entire party was there, and Miss Jodee Sue was one hungry beyotch, and ready to leave, but we couldn't because we were waiting for Heather and Beth. (traffic was really bad due to a rainy fall day).
Luckily, they let us sit down before we all got there, or Jodee was going to hit someone. (not really, but for the sake of drama, just go with it).
We ordered wine and appetizers. The wine was WAY good. We had grilled cheese and baked brie for our appetizers. We should really get t-shirts that say: GOT CHEESE?
After gobbling up the cheese and the first bottle of wine (first? YES! we had two bottles!) our dinner came:

Here's where things start to get fuzzy, but I do remember: two bottles of wine, a tilipa dish that was de-lish, and then laughing so incredibly hard, I was in need of my inhaler. But, I only remember one story that made me laugh so hard. I swear, every time that Beth comes to dinner, there is always a great story. And the thing is, is that Beth is so low key about her stories, that it makes it even funnier.
So, a few years ago, Beth asked her African-American co-worker where she got her hair done. The co-worker told Beth, and Beth went to the African-American salon. The hairdresser did his thing (I think it was a man), and when the chair was turned around for the great unveiling of the new hairdo....Beth saw her hair, thought she looked like Carole Brady, and proceeded to tell the man that her hair looked like a mushroom with a stem, and could he please get rid of the stem. So, the stem came off, and Beth went home with just the mushroom part.
Funny enough story, right? Well, here is the part that made Heather pee her pants just a little bit:
Beth went back to the salon for a subsequent visit!

We even had dessert. We split a chocolate thingy and a plate of beignets. Holy cow, those beignets were so tasty.
As I mentioned, I was a little spacey after two bottles of wine, but I do believe that every appetizer, dinner, and dessert plate was just about licked clean (as well as our wine glasses). The food was really good, and I recommend a visit (just make sure your entire party is there so you can be seated right away).
Girls, if I left anything out, please add a comment!

He's my Tiny Dancer

My brother, Tiger, is a football kind of guy.  The weekends of fall and winter are spent in front of the TV watching college and pro football.  We grew up watching pro football on Sundays, and I love it too.  Tiger played football his whole life, even a bit in college.  So, when he had his first child, Cooper, he couldn't wait until Cooper could watch, and eventually play football.  I remember Tiger telling me his dream came true the first time Cooper actually sat with Tiger and watched a game on TV.  Cooper is now six and is playing flag football for his second year.  He may be small, but he is mighty!

Although I am a football kind of gal, I also was a dancer my entire life (although my body sure doesn't look like it these days).  I have written quite a bit about how So You Think You Can Dance is my favorite TV show. 

This fall is the first time that So You Think You Can Dance is on in the fall rather than only the summer.  They started the season by showing the best of the past five seasons.  Tiger likes the show too, and he and Cooper were watching that show.  Cooper then told his dad, "I want to quit football and take dance lessons."

 {I will pause here for dramatic effect............Cooper wanted to quit football to...... DANCE!}

 Tiger told him that he could do both, and Cooper was fine with that.

Fast forward to me going to Cooper's house and giving him a dance lesson as well as babysitting for the evening.  I explained to Cooper that we had to do 15 minutes of ballet because ballet is the foundation of all other forms of dance, and he was cool with that.  Cooper wanted to take class in his backyard, so there we were doing our plies and releves and learning all the positions (which he still remembers, I might add).  Then, we put on the cool music and start learning a 'routine'.  I told him to practice it so we could add on later.

Later in the evening, I was putting Cooper and Carter to bed, and Carter was screaming "I don't want to take a nap!!!!!!!!!!"  And I am all, well that is a good thing because you are NOT taking a nap 'lil man, you are going to BED.  Then I moseyed across the hall and Cooper says, "you know Aunt Natalie, your dance steps were kinda weak." 

Oh yes he did.

I think that my favorite show has poisoned that child.  He wants to be able to do hip-hop with the best of them after one lesson, and he still has to learn first position and rhythm steps.  You have to learn how to crawl before you can run.  Besides, I don't know how to do hip-hop anyway.  Do you think I can talk him into a tap class?

The Secret's Out

I must confess. I have been keeping a secret for awhile now. A couple of years ago, Ignacio and I were driving back from Starved Rock and came upon this little store called Kristine's Shower. We walked in and were greeted by the owner, Jenny. The store sells lotions, soaps, bath bombs, 'frosting', and the like. Jenny told us that our skin would 'freak out' once we used the products.

We bought some of her lotions and bath bombs and headed home. We tried them out, and our skin freaked out! I love, love, love the lotion (called sorbet). My favorite scent (so far) is 'girly girl'. Just recently I was in the park with the dog, and some lady asked me what I was wearing, that I smelled so good and fresh.
Jenny recently sent me some samples to try out. The sorbet she sent was 'girly girl', and this causes fights at home. Ignacio and I fight over the girly girl sorbet because it is mine and he uses it! I bought him one of the scents for men, but he insists on stealing mine. HMPH!

Jenny also has something called aloe whip. It seems like a combination of the sorbet which is straight lotion infused with aloe. It is a little lighter than the sorbet, therefore I love using the aloe whip in the summer. The aloe whip she sent me is called 'Get Fresh' which is a cucumber melon type of scent, and I love it too.   There are about 30 different scents, and I have yet to try them all, but it is good to have goals in life. 
I also have a bar of soap that I have yet to try, but I will let you know how I like it as soon as I open it.

I have shared our secret with my mom who has shared the secret with a friend in California, and they both love the stuff.  
Do yourself a favor and check out Jenny's website and try out some sorbet or whips, your skin will freak out.
http://inkristinesshower.bizhosting.com/index.html

Fall has fell (fallen?)

Camel is now ready for fall!

I have finished knitting her this lovely sweater.  Doesn't she look cute?

Well, too bad she thinks this gorgeous sweater is a toy.  If the sweater is on the floor, she attacks it.  If it is on the couch, the little stinker jumps up to grab it, then I chase her while it is in her mouth. 

Doesn't she realize all the love that went into those knit 1 and purl 2s?

Yum..potatoes. Wait no! I mean Couch Potato

I have the iPhone and love it. I didn't think I would really love it, but I do. The possibilities seem endless with all the aps you can get. So, I recently got this ap called COUCH TO 5K. If any of you know me even remotely well, you know I DON'T run. It pains me to run across the street, and I could kill Camel (the new dog) when she decides to run up the ramp home. So this idea of "couch" (oh yeah, that's me. I love the couch) to 5K intrigued me.
The premise behind the ap is that you are to run 3 times a week and each week it gets a bit more difficult, and at the end of the 9th week, you should be able to run a 5K without stopping.
I am currently on week 3.
Week 1 wasn't so bad. There was a 5 minute warm-up, then you alternate 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking, and end with a 5 minute cool down for a total of 30 minutes.
Week 2 had 90 seconds of jogging and then 2 minutes of walking.
Week 3 is 1.5 minutes of jogging, 1.5 minutes of walking, 3 minutes of jogging, 3 minutes of walking.
You get the idea.
The cool thing is that you can have your music playing on your iPhone, and then this ap will 'talk' over your music and say either "run now" or "walk now". It's pretty cool.
I am in a panic about week 5 though. It expects me to be able to run non-stop for 20 minutes at the end of that week. YEAH RIGHT!! Running non-stop for 3 minutes this morning nearly had me ordering oxygen when I got home.
So, here's hoping I make it to week 9 someday. It'll be a miracle.
I may just have to stay at week 4 for awhile. Wouldn't want to rush things.

FEAST! The bee's knees

Stephanie's pick for September's dinner was Feast at 1616 N. Damen.
Steph, Liz, Heather, and I were the four lucky diners who had so many yummy choices availabe to us from the awesome menu.
For an appetizer, we ordered guacamole and bruschetta. Both were delicious.
For main courses, I had the butternut squash ravioli,
Heather had the turkey burger,
Steph had the fish tacos,
and Liz had the panko chicken.
I know you'll never believe this, but everyone brought home a doggy bag except me. Yeah, whatever.
Everyone loved what they ordered, and everyone had a tough time choosing what they wanted. When the dessert menu came out, the waiter told us which desserts where the "bee's knees" and the "cat's meow", but we were all too stuffed to take part.

Our discussions had a lot to do with kid issues. Steph's oldest is in college, and got a HUGE hickey the first week of school. Liz has THREE in college and a granddaughter that had a poopie diaper leak on her shirt. And Heather's son didn't have good 'listening ears' at school. I have one that takes off on me at the park and goes to the neighbors' house to mooch for treats, and another that scales the terrace to the neighbor's terrace across the hall.
Kids these days. Sheesh.

What I Learned Today

Did you ever get a great outfit idea? You get this awesome picture in your head of how you will look when you put all the pieces together. You are excited to wake up the next morning and get dressed so that you will look as awesome as your vision.

I have learned today that just because you have a great vision in your head with a cute blazer and cropped wide legged pants, your ass doesn't magically disappear. Your wide hips are still there in that blazer. The blazer doesn't hide shit.

Sometimes, my imagination's pictures are much better than the real thing.

Ooo-la-la

In an effort to diversify our food choices, I chose a French restaurant for our August dinner. In all our years as a dinner club, we are fairly certain that we have not dined at a French restaurant. Tres sad! La Sardine is located at 111 N. Carpenter, walking distance from Jodee's home. If I lived there, I would have french onion soup quite often.


I am still kicking myself for not ordering the french onion soup. I ordered the goat cheese salad instead. And while I could bathe in goat cheese, I could also spa in french onion soup. The soup was a popular choice, and all who ordered it were very pleased.

There were six of us for this dinner: me, Aimee, Jodee, Heather, Liz, and Diane. Most people ordered the steak. The complaint about the steak was: too much butter. I really don't think I could ever complain about too much butter. :)


Heather ordered the creme brulee. I have never tried it. I have always been afraid too. You see, I have this aversion to things like: pudding, jello, flan, etc. So, if it can wiggle, I'm not too keen about it. Heather enjoyed it though.
For a French restaurant, the prices were quite reasonable. I am sure I will be going back for the $7 bowl of onion soup. Hmmm, how many times can I mention onion soup in one entry?
I can't wait to see what kind of restaurant Stephanie picks for September. Will they have french onion soup? (I just had to get it in there one more time)

Avoir mes amies

"It's a Beautiful Day"

The most wonderful thing has happened.  It's raining.  It's raining hard.  Very hard.  Now, only if it were Saturday and I could sit home and enjoy it, instead of having to sit in my dungeon on a beautiful Monday morning.  Man, I need to work from home.

WWJD ??

What Would Jodee Do?  I have no idea why, but that is what was in my head in the shower Saturday morning after a long Succulent Summer Sisters' Friday.  

Friday started early with Heather, Trey, and Liz coming by.  

Trey was an excellent addition to the summer sisters.  We ate and gabbed and had a nice time.  Unfortunately, the 3 of them had to leave early.  Right as they were leaving, Aimee and Susan arrived.  They arrived via blue line with a big cooler and Costco pizza in hand.  The passengers on the "L" were really hoping that Aimee and Susan would share their bounty, but luckily they kept it all for us.  

Jodee arrived a little while later, and the wine drinking commenced.

I do have to pause here and tell everyone that Aimee broke one of the sacred Summer Friday night rules.  As I was walking Liz out, I let Aimee and Susan know that the door was open and to make themselves comfortable.  Do y'all remember one of the Summer Sisters Friday night rules said:  walk to the terrace with your eyes closed and ignore my messy home.  Well, Aimee needed a plate and looked in the cabinets for a plate.  Lo and behold, Aimee found the 'hidden' mess.  OY.  Now she wants to come over and organize my cupboards.  Oh Aimee, Aimee, Aimee, you were supposed to ignore the mess.

Camel was in her party dress for the evening. 

 Aimee was really hoping that she had to use the bathroom so that she could use the Poo Log (a very special birthday gift from Don).

Tracy finally arrived from Indy after bad traffic and some confusion arriving in my 'hood. It was so great to see her again. She always cracks me up.
I received some great birthday gifts: a peace t-shirt, roses, an orange phonebook, a phone wallet thingy (I think that is how they advertise it), and a cool wallet/pouch. How lucky I am to have such caring, generous, beautiful women in my life.

I am upset with myself. I did not count how many bottles of wine we drank. Normally, that is not so important, but I will explain later why it's important this night.

Susan asked if I had any red pepper for the pizza. Here is the red pepper I have. There is so much of it, it needs its own chair.
Do y'all remember the blog entry I just wrote about hating flip flops? Well look at this solidarity and support for my cause that these summer sisters showed up with.  Can you tell which shoe/foot is mine?

Ignacio was able to join us for an hour or so, and Jodee and Ignacio love to discuss politics and started right in.

I guess we had a really good time and here is the part where I'm sorry I didn't count all the wine bottles. I think the Summer Friday concluded at 12:30 or so. Jodee had to leave her car and come back for it the next day because it wouldn't have been a good idea for her to drive home.
And poor, dear Aimee.   Aimee, Aimee, Aimee. She was umm, how shall I say it? Incapacitated all Saturday morning. Good thing Tracy was spending the weekend at Aimee's house. Scottie Too Hottie was out of town, and poor Ella need someone to take care of her. Aimee was having a little gathering at 2pm on Saturday, and I am aware that at 1pm, she was still sleeping. I don't know how Saturday went, but I sure hope Aimee was feeling better. CHEERS!